By Samantha Pak
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Guilt and Ginataan
By Mia P. Manansala
Berkley, 2024
Autumn is in full swing, and that means it’s time for the annual Shady Palms Corn Festival. As one of the town’s biggest moneymakers, it brings in crowds from throughout the Midwest and is host to the second-largest corn maze in Illinois. Lila Macapagal and her best friends and Brew-ha Cafe business partners, Adeena Awa and Elena Torres, are more than happy to partake in the latter—even making a little wager on who can make it out of the maze the fastest. But the fun comes to a grinding halt when a dead body is found in the middle of the maze, next to an unconscious Adeena clutching a bloody knife.
The body happens to be the wife of the mayor of a neighboring city, and with all signs pointing to murder, Adeena becomes the prime suspect. Cue Lila and her family and friends coming together to start sleuthing in an effort to find the killer who’s framing Adeena.
Given who the victim is, Manansala gives us a glimpse into the local politics, showing readers how city government works—from getting public programs off the ground, to the rivalries between cities. As someone who has covered local government as a journalist, I enjoyed this peek behind the curtain.
“Guilt and Ginataan” is the fifth installment of Manansala’s Tita Rosie’s Kitchen mystery series. And unlike many other cozy mystery series, one of the hallmarks of this one is that while Lila is a smart and strong protagonist, the crime solving is not a solitary effort. She’s working with a whole team, as she and her loved ones all work together (even sharing meals during which they brief everyone on their respective progress). This is one of my favorite things about this series because it feels more realistic when solving a crime. Even law enforcement have different divisions and task forces that work together to solve their respective cases.
The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club
By Gloria Chao
Mira, 2025
When Kathryn Hu finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her with not one, but two women, she does one of the most unlikely things. She becomes friends with them to get revenge on the man. And while Kathryn, Olivia, and Elle may have said they want to kill Tucker Jones—their shared ex—their revenge is more about messing up his apartment. But when they find him dead in the closet, they know it doesn’t look good for any of them.
So the trio has to work together to solve the murder so none of them goes down for Tucker’s murder. Because despite their DNA being on the scene and definitely having a motive, they’re innocent. But as they go undercover and lie to everyone, including the hot detective on the case, they realize that there are quite a few people who had a reason to want Tucker dead. Now, they’ve just got to find the right person.
“The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club” is as unhinged as the title. Kathryn, Olivia, and Elle are all smart, strong women, but they make bad decision after bad decision—which leads to shenanigans and hijinks—and as a reader, you will just want to shake them and yell at them to use their brains. But admittedly, that’s what makes it a fun story, as whatever can go wrong, does go wrong. But it’s also beautiful to see the women come together and support each other as they open up, share, and work through their respective traumas and issues—some caused by Tucker, but most from other parts of their lives.
Chao also does a great job of balancing the mystery, with keeping the reader constantly guessing who the culprit is, and giving us just enough clues throughout to figure it out alongside our crime-solving trio. I really appreciated the twists at the end that I suspected were coming, but was still surprised and enjoyed when they happened, which is always fun in a mystery.
Defying China
By Tsultrim Dolma
Dial Books, 2026
Born in a small village in eastern Tibet, Tsultrim Dolma always knew there had to be more to life than what was expected of her. More than no education because she came from a poor family. More than being married as a teenager because she was a girl. More than a life living under oppressive Chinese occupation, just because she was Tibetan.
Then at the age of 16, Dolma found that more she was looking for when she joins protests for the Tibetan independence movement—the fight for her country’s liberation from the People’s Republic of China. Not too long after, Dolma is arrested and sent to Gutsa Detention Center, which was notorious for brutally torturing political prisoners like herself.
Following her coming of age in Gutsa, being under heavy surveillance by the government after her release, and her eventual escape to the United States, “Defying China” is a young adult memoir highlighting the bravery it takes to stand up and speak up for what you believe is right.
Having never really learned anything about China taking control of Tibet, this was a crash course in the subject. While I will never understand people’s need to harm and take away others’ rights, it always gives me hope to learn how the oppressed fight against their oppressors. And it is particularly hopeful to see when it is young people in those fights—which is not too dissimilar to some of the student demonstrations we’re seeing nowadays.
And while Dolma has not had an easy life, I appreciated that she balanced them out with some of the brighter moments from her younger days, such as her religious pilgrimage to Lhasa, Tibet. Her descriptions of the temples and statues—as well as all that she endured later as a young adult—will have readers wanting to learn more about Tibet and its history.
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